Canada comes to rescue of Saudi teenager who fled death threats

The Saudi official’s face was thunderous as he discussed a runaway teenager with Thailand’s immigration chief.

“It would have been better if they had confiscated her mobile instead of her passport,” he fumed. “Twitter changed everything.”

It is nearly a week since Rahaf al-Qunun, 18, arrived at Bangkok airport after fleeing her Saudi family, barricaded herself into a hotel room and set up a Twitter account on her phone to beg for international help.

Within hours her tweets had reached 45,000 followers, including prominent Arab dissidents, feminists and the United Nations refugee agency, which took custody of her the following day after Thai authorities backed away from deporting her.

Rahaf al-Qunun, centre, was met at Toronto airport by the Canadian foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, right, and Saba Abbas, general counsellor of the COSTI refugee agencyCarlos Osorio/Reuters

On Wednesday she was granted refugee status. Australia, the country she was trying to reach, and…

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